Verwandte Artikel zu American Sphinx: The Character of Thomas Jefferson
Inhaltsangabe
NATIONAL BOOK AWARD WINNER Following Thomas Jefferson from the drafting of the Declaration of Independence to his retirement in Monticello, Joseph J. Ellis unravels the contradictions of the Jeffersonian character. He gives us the slaveholding libertarian who was capable of decrying mescegenation while maintaing an intimate relationship with his slave, Sally Hemmings; the enemy of government power who exercisdd it audaciously as president; the visionarty who remained curiously blind to the inconsistencies in his nature. American Sphinx is a marvel of scholarship, a delight to read, and an essential gloss on the Jeffersonian legacy.
Die Inhaltsangabe kann sich auf eine andere Ausgabe dieses Titels beziehen.
Über die Autorin bzw. den Autor
JOSEPH J. ELLIS is the author of many works of American history including Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation, which was awarded the Pulitzer Prize; and American Sphinx: The Character of Thomas Jefferson, which won the National Book Award. He recently retired from his position as the Ford Foundation Professor of History at Mount Holyoke College and lives in Amherst, Massachusetts, with his wife and their youngest son.
Von der hinteren Coverseite
For a man who insisted that life on the public stage was not what he had in mind, Thomas Jefferson certainly spent a great deal of time in the spotlight--and not only during his active political career. After 1809, his longed-for retirement was compromised by a steady stream of guests and tourists who made of his estate at Monticello a virtual hotel, as well as by more than one thousand letters per year, most from strangers, which he insisted on answering personally. In his twilight years Jefferson was already taking on the luster of a national icon, which was polished off by his auspicious death (on July 4, 1896); and in the subsequent seventeen decades of his celebrity--now verging, thanks to virulent revisionists and television documentaries, on notoriety--has been inflated beyond recognition of the original person.
For the historian Joseph J. Ellis, the experience of writing about Jefferson was "as if a pathologist, just about to begin an autopsy, has discovered that the body on the operating table was still breathing." In American Sphinx, Ellis sifts the facts shrewdly from the legends and the rumors, treading a path between vilification and hero worship in order to formulate a plausible portrait of the man who still today "hover[s] over the political scene like one of those dirigibles cruising above a crowded football stadium, flashing words of inspiration to both teams." For, at the grass roots, Jefferson is no longer liberal or conservative, agrarian or industrialist, pro- or anti-slavery, privileged or populist. He is all things to all people. His own obliviousness to incompatible convictions within himself (which left him deaf to most forms of irony) has leaked out intothe world at large--a world determined to idolize him despite his foibles.
From Ellis we learn that Jefferson sang incessantly under his breath; that he delivered only two public speeches in eight years as president, while spending ten hours a day at his writing desk; that sometimes his political sensibilities collided with his domestic agenda, as when he ordered an expensive piano from London during a boycott (and pledged to "keep it in storage"). We see him relishing such projects as the nailery at Monticello that allowed him to interact with his slaves more palatably, as pseudo-employer to pseudo-employees. We grow convinced that he preferred to meet his lovers in the rarefied region of his mind rather than in the actual bedchamber. We watch him exhibiting both great depth and great shallowness, combining massive learning with extraordinary naivete, piercing insights with self-deception on the grandest scale. We understand why we should neither beatify him nor consign him to the rubbish heap of history, though we are by no means required to stop loving him. He is Thomas Jefferson, after all--our very own sphinx.
„Über diesen Titel“ kann sich auf eine andere Ausgabe dieses Titels beziehen.
Neu kaufen
Diesen Artikel anzeigen
EUR 23,03
Gratis für den Versand innerhalb von/der USA
Versandziele, Kosten & DauerWeitere beliebte Ausgaben desselben Titels
Suchergebnisse für American Sphinx: The Character of Thomas Jefferson
Beispielbild für diese ISBN
American Sphinx: The Character of Thomas Jefferson
Anbieter: Wonder Book, Frederick, MD, USA
Verkäuferbewertung 5 von 5 Sternen
Zustand: Good. Good condition. A copy that has been read but remains intact. May contain markings such as bookplates, stamps, limited notes and highlighting, or a few light stains. Artikel-Nr. L05N-00201
Anzahl: 1 verfügbar
Beispielbild für diese ISBN
American Sphinx: The Character of Thomas Jefferson
Anbieter: Wonder Book, Frederick, MD, USA
Verkäuferbewertung 5 von 5 Sternen
Zustand: As New. Like New condition. A near perfect copy that may have very minor cosmetic defects. Artikel-Nr. H02B-02980
Anzahl: 1 verfügbar
Beispielbild für diese ISBN
American Sphinx: The Character of Thomas Jefferson
Anbieter: Wonder Book, Frederick, MD, USA
Verkäuferbewertung 5 von 5 Sternen
Zustand: Very Good. Very Good condition. A copy that may have a few cosmetic defects. May also contain light spine creasing or a few markings such as an owner's name, short gifter's inscription or light stamp. Artikel-Nr. E09L-01391
Anzahl: 4 verfügbar
Beispielbild für diese ISBN
American Sphinx: The Character of Thomas Jefferson
Anbieter: ThriftBooks-Phoenix, Phoenix, AZ, USA
Verkäuferbewertung 5 von 5 Sternen
Paperback. Zustand: Good. No Jacket. Pages can have notes/highlighting. Spine may show signs of wear. ~ ThriftBooks: Read More, Spend Less. Artikel-Nr. G0679764410I3N00
Anzahl: 6 verfügbar
Beispielbild für diese ISBN
American Sphinx: The Character of Thomas Jefferson
Anbieter: ThriftBooks-Atlanta, AUSTELL, GA, USA
Verkäuferbewertung 5 von 5 Sternen
Paperback. Zustand: Good. No Jacket. Former library book; Pages can have notes/highlighting. Spine may show signs of wear. ~ ThriftBooks: Read More, Spend Less 0.86. Artikel-Nr. G0679764410I3N10
Anzahl: 2 verfügbar
Beispielbild für diese ISBN
American Sphinx: The Character of Thomas Jefferson
Anbieter: ThriftBooks-Dallas, Dallas, TX, USA
Verkäuferbewertung 5 von 5 Sternen
Paperback. Zustand: Good. No Jacket. Former library book; Pages can have notes/highlighting. Spine may show signs of wear. ~ ThriftBooks: Read More, Spend Less 0.86. Artikel-Nr. G0679764410I3N10
Anzahl: 2 verfügbar
Beispielbild für diese ISBN
American Sphinx: The Character of Thomas Jefferson
Anbieter: ThriftBooks-Dallas, Dallas, TX, USA
Verkäuferbewertung 5 von 5 Sternen
Paperback. Zustand: Good. No Jacket. Pages can have notes/highlighting. Spine may show signs of wear. ~ ThriftBooks: Read More, Spend Less. Artikel-Nr. G0679764410I3N00
Anzahl: 7 verfügbar
Beispielbild für diese ISBN
American Sphinx: The Character of Thomas Jefferson
Anbieter: ThriftBooks-Dallas, Dallas, TX, USA
Verkäuferbewertung 5 von 5 Sternen
Paperback. Zustand: Very Good. No Jacket. May have limited writing in cover pages. Pages are unmarked. ~ ThriftBooks: Read More, Spend Less. Artikel-Nr. G0679764410I4N00
Anzahl: 1 verfügbar
Beispielbild für diese ISBN
American Sphinx: The Character of Thomas Jefferson
Anbieter: ThriftBooks-Reno, Reno, NV, USA
Verkäuferbewertung 5 von 5 Sternen
Paperback. Zustand: Good. No Jacket. Pages can have notes/highlighting. Spine may show signs of wear. ~ ThriftBooks: Read More, Spend Less. Artikel-Nr. G0679764410I3N00
Anzahl: 7 verfügbar
Beispielbild für diese ISBN
American Sphinx: The Character of Thomas Jefferson
Anbieter: ThriftBooks-Reno, Reno, NV, USA
Verkäuferbewertung 5 von 5 Sternen
Paperback. Zustand: Good. No Jacket. Former library book; Pages can have notes/highlighting. Spine may show signs of wear. ~ ThriftBooks: Read More, Spend Less 0.86. Artikel-Nr. G0679764410I3N10
Anzahl: 1 verfügbar